OK, readers!
So, I promised you more updates this week and here is the first installment: Texas!
{I'm going to do my catch-up updates in reverse order, so that I don't leave any of the awesome that was this precious time in the land I have come to love so, so dearly.}
TEXAS!!!!
Saturday, May 21
Let's just say that the trip got off to a weeeeee bit of a rocky start...This gal slept through her alarm, only to be awakened by the highly offensive **buzz** that is the door buzzer of my building. And, let me tell you, I am so thankful that the **buzz** is indeed highly offensive...otherwise I might not have made it! My sweet friend Christine had graciously agreed not only to pick me up at the ungodly hour of 5am to take me to the airport, but also to be the live-in "mom" to my critters while I was away...she's the best, y'all. Anyways, back to getting to the airport... Christine had called me when she left her place to come pick me up...but, of course, I didn't hear the call, nor did I wake up to any of my 5 alarms...neeeeat. So, I woke up when I was supposed to be leaving. Yep, talk about freak-out. I wasn't entirely packed as I had a few things I was still debating on taking, so the decision was made by shoving everything without a thought into my trusty, rolly, red duffel bag. I then splashed some water on my face, threw the hair in a pony tail, kissed the critter goodbye, and flew out the door with Christine's **chuckling** help. We made it to the airport with plenty of time for me to check my bag, make it through the one open check-point, and spend a little time in the bathroom making myself look a little more presentable. I got to chat with another lady doing the same thing - this gal was impressively curling her hair! Props to her! Then I got to chat with my pops as I waited...yay, weather delays...silly tornadoes... Sadly, the delay stole a chunk of time that I was going to spend with the fam at DFW, but we were still able to get in an hour and a half or so (complete with a dead battery in the 'rent's car at the airport...there's a free service for that at DFW, though!!), and it was wonderful - they brought me Taco Bueno (judge me all you want, it still screams Texas!)! It was great to be able to see my Momma on her bday - love you so much! From DFW I caught my next flight down to ATX where I was very pleasantly greeted by two of my absolute best friends, the Ponders. Man, I miss them!! I was able to spend the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday with them, and Josh even serenaded me and Elaine with some guitar playing and singing - thanks for sacrificing your fingertips for us, JP! (*snap! snap! snap! snap! snappity! snap! snap!*)
Monday, May 23
My sweet Tara friend came and snatched me from the Ponder house Monday morning and we went to Kerbey Lane where we had one of the most excellent breakfasts ever...deeeelish! We spent the day running around, catching up, and hanging out - it was wonderful. Later that evening our wonderful Kristen friend came to join the party and we got ready for a superb Mexican feast, I am Number 4 showing, and slumber party with a couple of Tara's friends from grad school (thanks so much for all of your hard work and letting us crash in your living room, Noel!!). It was awesome.
Tuesday, May 24
FUN IN THE SUN! SUN! SUN! SUN! Y'all...my skin hasn't seen sun since I moved up here...it was awesome to get to lounge out by the pool...even if I did get some funny streaky lines...no worries, everything evened out before the wedding :) It's still a bit too chilly up here to go swimming, too, so splashing around in the pool was delightful. Later on we went to Gloria's (the BEST tamales I have ever had state side...I'd venture to say they were as good as the Panamanian tamales, family...seriously...I thought I had died and gone to heaven) for happy hour, where I got to see my lovely Alyssa K!! It was awesome to catch up with her and have good old fashioned girl time.
Wednesday, May 25
Kerbey Lane, round 2! Kristen and Tara and I decided we needed to go get breakfast there again...just because we could, and we all wanted to dig-in to some lemon poppy-seed pancakes (to die for!). It was fantastic. After breakfast the girls dropped me off at the casa de Reed where I got to spend some wodnerfully precious time with my cousins and the little Z-Man...I can't believe he's going to be 4 soon! So hard to believe. But we had a ton of fun - oh how I miss them!!
Thursday, May 26
The after getting some Whataburger for lunch, the cousin drove me to meet up with Mak and her other gals so that we could get to work on bachelorette/pre-wedding fun. While P and I waited for Mak we ran around with Z-Man at a little playground and had a ton of fun with him there...don't worry, he survived the face-plant following his trip down the big-kid slide just fine ;) Once Mak arrived I transferred all of my junk into her car and we headed for Buda-land to get to prepping. We had a fun night out strolling around 6th street and got so not enough sleep...but it was still a blast, and Mak was an absolute trooper at the piano bar :)
Friday, May 27
THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING!!!! Us bridesmaids got to work finishing the guest favors and helping to make sure Mak had everything she needed for the wedding and honeymoon. We all made it to the rehearsal where Butch did an excellent job of making sure we didn't forget to take care of our sweet bride during the ceremony the next day - what a blessing to have such an amazing man of God join you in marriage. After the seamless rehearsal was complete we headed to Lake Travis for the rehearsal dinner - awesome Mexican food and fun with friends. We finally had our fill of food and people and made our way back to the hotel where we got to hang out with Mak's extended family for a bit before calling it a night. Man, they are a fun bunch of people.
Saturday, May 28
WEDDING DAY!!! We got the day off to an early 7am start to make sure that Mak had plenty of time to get prepped and not suffer too much stress in the way of time crunching. Her mom treated us to a lovely breakfast at the house and we all set to work prepping for the 2pm ceremony. We made it to the church around 11:30/12 and did our final preps before it was time for the pre-ceremony pictures. Once those were done it was a short wait and then it was show time! The wedding itself was beautiful, intimate, and God-centered...perfection. I'm pretty sure we all let a few tears fall as we watched Wes as he saw his bride walking down that aisle toward a lifetime with him. She was stunning and he was so obviously in awe of her beauty, inside and out, that tears were inevitable. The reception was a fun time with friends and family and I was so happy I got to see the Ponders one last time. It was incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye to Mak and Wes as we ushered them off to Jamaica...I miss them!!! And, saying goodbye to my sweet Josh and Elaine was equally difficult. But, saying goodbye to those sweet people transitioned me into the next leg of my trip. My dear Bolwerk was gracious enough to come pick me up from Buda, even though he was too sick to attend the wedding with me - what a champ, eh? He drove his sick self 2hrs just to pick me up so that I could spend some time in College Station.
{Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely love my friends?? Mmk, well, I adore them...there are simply no words to express how much I love them and how much they have absolutely become my family.}
B and I made a little stop back at Tara's for dinner and some general hangout-age...such a blessing. After that he and I made a stop at the convenience store for some Blue Bell (Texas, I love you!), Sour S'ghetti, Vanilla Coke, and Cherry Dr. Pepper. That my friends, is a recipe for success! We had a really great drive to CS, brimming with sugar-highs, laughter, good tunes, and excellent conversation. He granted me the pleasure of driving me through campus and stopping at the giant Aggie Ring so that I could actually see and touch it, as I hadn't been able to see it since it was placed. I love Texas A&M...there is simply no place like it.
Sunday, May 29
Church! B and I went to Grace Southwood for service Sunday morning and then met up with Poarchy-Poarch and Powell at Fuego for lunch - oooohm gahhhhh how I have missed Texas food! We had an excellent lunch and then made our way over to the 'doons for some coffee and face time with Cam - man I love that kid...he's so freaking tall! While there I got to have some sweet time with Poarchy as well as my sweet Powell girl. I've missed those kiddos so much! There was another lovely, lovely surprise I got at Muldoons: Katy!! I'm sure most of you are familiar with my sweet sister in the Lord, Katy, who has been in Africa with her husband Kahler this last year. Well, she and I finally go to make our friendship "real-life" official! She was so sweet to make time to come visit with me for a little bit and it was such a blessing to finally meet her face to face and give her a real hug. But...as she and I were discussing earlier today...we both failed to document our meeting with a picture. And we call ourselves bloggers...shame on us. BUT! We'll remedy that come the Christmas holidays, don't you worry your pretty little heads :) After coffee time B, Poarch, Powell, and I made our way back to B's house to watch a movie while I waited for for my sweet Kacy and Justin friends to pick me up for dinner. Once they arrived we made our way to Blue Baker for some pizza...ah, it brought back memories. We had such a sweet time together - I was so happy they were able to make the trek up from Houston. From there we went over to the Humphrey's House for dessert, where Miss Powell joined us as well. After sending Kacy and Justin off...and ushering in the tears that would not completely stop flowing for the next two days, the Humphrey House settled down for some Kung Fu Panda before calling it a night.
Monday, May 30
Happy Memorial Day!!
{I'll have another post to share some things about Memorial Day a little later on this week or next}
A bunch of us started the day off with some precious time out at the Freeman House...it will always feel like home :) and then made our way to Layne's (oh how I wish I could have brought you with me!!) where we met up with Pauler and my sweet Metz bug dorks!! It was sooo, so wonderful to see Pauler and visit with him about his upcoming move for seminary and to see his excitement about what the Lord is doing as he prepares for this new stage in his life. And, seeing the Metzs was super great on so many levels: they're awesome, they're like my big brother and sister, THEY'RE PREGGERS!!!! I was so excited to find out that they are expecting this fall - I'll get to see the baby at Christmas! WHOOP! After some good time at Layne's I said my goodbyes and ran to the car before I had time to start crying...I could have hugged Bolwerk, Poarch, Powell, Pauler, and the Metz crew forever, I think...but, I knew that if I stayed much longer and continued to hold on to them I would never leave and I would just cry and cry...so, I hopped in Powell's car and she took me back to the Humphrey's so they could cart me back to Austin. I loved the time I got to spend with the Humphreys on our trip to Austin...I. MISS. THEM! Once in Austin I met back up with Tara and she and I completely vegged the afternoon/evening away...and, I cried some more.
Tuesday, May 31
I so didn't want to leave Texas, but that flight was calling my name, and it was time to go. Tara took me to the airport and once I got all checked in and made my way over to the checkpoint line I told her that she was going to have to leave otherwise I was going to bawl my eyes out...and she was gracious enough to spare my eyes and head that sufferance. Once I was comfortable in the line I called my Pops and chatted with him about the trip and not wanting to leave Texas and I was hardly able to keep my tears from falling. But, I got on that plane, thanked a precious soldier, caught my connecting flight in DFW, and arrived safely back here in the Melted Tundra.
The trip was incredible and I wish I hadn't left, but leaving means there's another trip to be had with more memories and more time with my Texas loves later on down the road.
For now, all is well up in the Tundra and I am happy to be back in my own little home with my critters.
Research is getting back underway and the summer will be a buzzy one full of research and sunshine. Y'all, it is so lush here right now, I can hardly believe it. I'll try to snag some pictures before it all fades back to white!
Well, that's all for now, my dears. I'm off to bed.
Love y'all dearly.
Shalom!
~MW
